Not All Imams In Senegal Oppose Family Planning

Citing the publication of a March 15 Washington Post article on controversy surrounding a family planning program and religious leaders in Senegal, Cheikh Seck, the project director for IntraHealth International’s Senegal Urban Health Initiative, and colleagues write in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog, “[T]he article presents a one-sided and stereotypical view of the reality of family planning in Senegal. It quotes one imam (or Muslim religious leader) and uses a few scattered quotes to suggest that all, or even most, Islamic leaders in Senegal are against family planning. This is not true. … We want the world to know that we get it. We need to advance with the times to make sure that Senegal is not left behind” (4/17).